Another historical building of the city, which belonged to Ioannis Trikoupis, son of Themistocles Trikoupis (1808-1890) who fought during the Greek Revolution, survived the Exodus and later was given the Bronze Award for his significant contribution to the liberation struggle. It is located at 20 Mayer Street, 150 m. south of Agios Spyridon. John, the eldest son and scion of the family, was three times elected a member of parliament. His brothers were Constantine and Nicholas Trikoupis, and his first cousin was Prime Minister Charilaos Trikoupis. After his death in 1941, the building was sold and in 1985 it was transferred to the Greek State.
The mansion has been registered as a work of art that needs special state protection and as a historical building. It was once a coastal building and was known as the “Trikoupaiiko of the first arch”. It had a large terrace facing the lagoon, which it once was directly adjacent to. In the summer, when the lagoon was drying up, a cinema operated outside the building and the town’s philharmonic orchestra played once a week at Anemomylos, under the baton of the chief musician Konidaris.
The building is two-storey, with a semi-basement. It displays Neoclassical features, such as marble details and friezes, but also physical influences in form borrowed from the Greek mansions of the Bosphorus. This influence is due to the close relations the family had with Greeks of Constantinople. They include such as the wooden openwork band, running around the edge of the roof. It originally bore ceiling paintings, which have not survived today.
In 1992, it was granted by the Ministry of Culture to the Municipality of Messolonghi and until 2015 it was used as the Town Hall. Since the beginning of 2019 the building houses the headquarters of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Aitoloakarnania and Lefkada.
In the square in front of the mansion there is a monument dedicated to Johann Jacob Meyer, erected in his honour in 1926. The Swiss journalist (1798-1826) was a philhellene and the husband of Altani Inglessi, from Messolonghi. He set up his printing house on this site, where he published the first Greek newspaper, the Greek Chronicles (1824-1826), which ceased publication when the printing house was destroyed in the bombardment. He died in the Exodus. The newspaper is an important source of information on the events of the period, expressing the love of freedom. It began republication in 1859-1864. The archive of the newspaper’s sheets is kept in the Library of the Hellenic Parliament, while the Municipal Art Gallery of Messolonghi exhibits parts of the printing press equipment, in particular sections of the manual press.
